The current conflict between the Saudi government and its US counterpart began last week when the US Congress released the congressional report with a chapter on Saudi Arabia. It raised suspicions about possible links between some individuals working for the Saudi government and some of the Saudi nationals involved in al-Qaeda's terrorism on September 11. However, the report's 28-page chapter on alleged Saudi government financing of the terrorists was not made public, although the allegations were. What angered the Saudis was the report's heavy accusation of their government's complicity in the terrorist attacks without providing any verifiable proof and, thus, without giving them a chance to respond to the accusations.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal visited Washington on Wednesday to ask officially for the chapter's declassification as requested in a submitted letter of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia while filling for his ill brother, King Fahd. The Saudis made the request on the ground of their need to respond to the accusations and thereby clear their name. Reportedly, the Bush administration announced its decision not to declassify the chapter before the arranged meeting between the Saudi official and the US president.
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Against this background, the US congressional report seems to be adding insult to Saudi Arabia's injury. Since September 11 that country has been a target of Washington hawks' proposals for regime change as part of a plan to reshape the entire Middle East. Regardless of his intention, Bush's refusal to declassify the mentioned chapter will only create grounds for future leveling of unverifiable charges against Saudi Arabia, which could prepare US public opinion for a future regime change under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Within this context, the refusal could serve as a first step toward "dealing" with an old US ally, which the hawks consider as a strategically important state with uncertain future stability. Saudi Arabia's refusal to let the United States use its bases in a major way in their war on Iraq has probably qualified it as an "emerging rogue state" that Washington can afford to alienate now that it has access to oil-rich Iraq.
Hooman Peimani Asia Times Aug 2, 2003
